Sameness is the controlling factor in the book The Giver by Lois Lowry. In the novel, Jonas is a young kid living in the future who learns about various problems in his isolated community. Lowry writes about a world of perfect equality and “Sameness”, where everyone has the same opportunities without knowing any better. Furthermore, the government has been using consistent cameras and microphones to control and keep watch on everyone in the community because they want to control everyone. Lowry’s opinion on Sameness is that Sameness is not the way to govern a community no matter what the opportunities are. No one in the community is able to make their own choices, and they are constantly observed through cameras, giving them no privacy either. She argues that personality and differences are what makes everyone special. I think that when Sameness is a part of that equation, there is no room for personal discovery. Personal discovery is a big part of figuring out who you are and what is important to you; its part of the journey of life.

Lowry demonstrates that Sameness will always connect individuals together, but their differences are what makes every individual special in their own way, paving the road to their future. In The Giver, although the community is based on a group of Sameness, in the end their differences are also important. When Jonas is at the Ceremony of Twelves to receive his job assignment, the leader of their community says, “This is the time… when we acknowledge differences….But today we honor your differences. They have determined your futures” (page 74). While this quote demonstrates that difference is important even in a community under the ideology of Sameness, the speaker’s irony shows that a community organized in this way could never really acknowledge individual differences. This shows irony because the elders talk about how they want the community to be in coherent Sameness, only to talk about their differences at the ceremony: The elders said, “Jonas was identified as a possible Receiver many years ago. We have observed him meticulously. There were no dreams of uncertainty” (Page 86). Even in a community built on Sameness there is still a time and place where their differences are important for everyones future. Lowry explains that even though people are controlled and are made to be the same as others, they are still able to find the best version of themselves.

However, Lowry argues Sameness is still present today and many people are not allowed to have a say in what they want. Through the first part of the book, Jonas learns about Sameness and being able to make your own opinions. The Giver teaches him about this by saying, “‘Our people made that choice, the choice to go to Sameness. Before my time before the previous time, back and back and back. We relinquished color when we relinquished sunshine and did away with differences.’ He thought for a moment. ‘We gained control of many things. But we had to let go of others.’ (Page 127). Lowry also wrote, “He waved his hand, as if a gesture had caused hills to disappear” (page 112). By relinquishing their opinions and choices, they were able to live the perfect life where you just learn and do what you need to do. There is no room to make the wrong choice and learn because everything is done for you, chosen for you.

I agree with Lois Lowry on not having a world that is surrounded by Sameness. Because—when everyone is the same—they are not able to experience life as they should, and people would not be able to form their own opinions. They wouldn’t be able to take the journey of life and learn for themselves as a person. At one point in the novel, Jonas exclaims, “If everything’s the same, then there aren’t any choices! i want to wake up in the morning and decide things! A blue tunic, or a red one? …. We really have to protect people from wrong choices”(Page 128-130). Because I value learning from your mistakes and being creative, I agree with Lowry. Through the book, I think Lowry shows the importance of mistakes which pave the road to everyones future. Without being able to make your own decisions on a daily basis, people are unable to learn and become who they are meant to be. Everyday, your brain makes hundreds of different choices. Choices are difficult to make but are also important lessons to learn. For example, at my school, there are around 80 clubs—all of which are different and have their own specialties. In your freshman year of high school, you will explore several of these clubs to see if you enjoy doing them or not. If you don’t do clubs there are also many sports you can choose from—these clubs and sports are what shape you during that time. The students who are involved in different high school clubs and sports will build more community than those who don’t the connections made in these will shape who you are in life.

Some people disagree with Lowry because under Sameness there is perfect equality. Even if everyone was in Sameness, everyone still needs to be different to achieve their personal goals in life. In the book Lowry writes ” we acknowledge differences. You Elevens have spent all your years till now learning to fit in, to standardize your behavior, to curb any impulse that might set you apart from the group.” This evidence shows that even people in a world of Sameness as some are today being restricted by their governments, governments will still acknowledge the differences between everyone in the community.

All in all Sameness is a restricting way to govern people. It may give them the same opportunities as others, but it encloses them in a bubble, making people unable to reach their full potential. Sameness matters because, even now there are people in the bubble of Sameness. Though they may be used to it, it limits their abilities and keeps their mind narrow rather than broad and ready to learn new information everyday.